Crooked House rebuild hearing postponed after owners' High Court appeal
The enforcement notice requiring the pub to be rebuilt 'so as to recreate it as similar as possible to the demolished building' was served on Adam and Carly Taylor and the company secretary of Warwickshire-based ATE Farms Ltd by South Staffordshire Council in February last year.
A hearing before a planning inspector had been due to start considering an appeal against the re-build notice next month.
The council alleges that the demolition of the pub in Himley, near Dudley, two days after it was gutted by fire on August 5 2023, constituted a breach of planning controls.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the council said: 'A High Court challenge was lodged by the owners of the Crooked House to challenge the Planning Inspectorate's refusal to postpone the Planning Enforcement Public Inquiry.
'South Staffordshire Council is extremely disappointed to announce that following the High Court challenge that took place on the 5th February 2025, the Planning Inspectorate has today, 11th February 2025, confirmed that the Planning Enforcement Public Inquiry will be held in abeyance.
'This means that the Crooked House Public Inquiry for the appeal, scheduled for 11th March 2025, will now not go ahead as planned and will likely resume when the criminal investigation into the fire at the Crooked House has been concluded.
'South Staffordshire Council has worked very hard to prepare for the Public Inquiry and to defend the Enforcement Notice issued in February 2024, but has now exhausted all avenues to see this Public Inquiry go ahead as planned in March 2025.'
Staffordshire Police said in July last year that six people arrested in connection with the fire have been released from their bail, but remain under investigation.
Those arrested have not been identified but were said at the time of their arrests to be a 66-year-old man from Dudley, a 51-year-old man from Buckingham, a 33-year-old man from Milton Keynes, two men from Leicestershire aged 23 and 44, and a woman aged 34, also from Leicestershire.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Redditch man drowns at Nuneaton beauty spot
A man has drowned after getting into difficulty while swimming at a Warwickshire beauty Berlan, from Redditch in Worcestershire, was swimming in Ensor's Pool in Nuneaton on Sunday afternoon, Warwickshire Police crews were called at about 12:30 BST to reports that the the 27-year-old man had disappeared in the water and not resurfaced for five was pulled from the water but confirmed dead at the scene at about 13:30, police said. The force is continuing to investigate on behalf of the Berlan's next of kin have been informed, a police spokesperson added, and anyone who was there at the time is asked to contact pool, in the south-west area of the town, is a former clay pit that served a nearby colliery and brick works and is now a site of special scientific interest. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
North Wales Live
3 hours ago
- North Wales Live
The real life North Wales story behind new BBC drama Confessions of a Steroid Gang
A new BBC series has revealed how a steroid empire based in North Wales was dismantled, partly through a dodgy dog grooming shop set up to launder the money being made. Confessions of a Steroid Gang tells the real life story of Macaulay Dodd and his father Andrew who were jailed after their £1m steroid lab was uncovered. The three-part series reveals how Macaulay, portrayed by Rhondda-based actor Garin Williams, first became addicted to steroids at 15 in the pursuit to achieve the perfect body before he would go on to cook up £1.2m worth of the Class C drug. Although anabolic steroids are a Class C drug, there is an exemption for personal use. Struggling with his relationship with his dad following his parents divorce, Macaulay latched onto his older, gym-going brother and his circle of older friends. His trips to the gym soon turned into something darker when he began injecting steroids at 15, becoming addicted to build the perfect body. His dad, Andrew Dodd, was also struggling. A former Dee estuary fisherman, he was desperate to change his circumstances when he had a chance encounter with a man in the pub who introduced him to the world of steroids. Hearing that 1.5 million people in the UK were using the drug, he decided to get involved. The pair reconnected when Macauley was 18 and living out his car in Deeside before they moved to St Asaph, where they set up their steroid lab in a remote farmhouse. It started as a small scheme in a garden shed but quickly evolved into one of the UK's biggest underground steroid labs, Renvex. The pair were importing the raw ingredients, mainly synthetic testosterone, from China, and formed a network of members of the public who would accept parcels for them without asking questions. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now Speaking on the show, Andrew said: "I didn't really class myself as a criminal. I'd just seen myself as a business owner." A police operation in London eventually led to the discovery of a large quantity of steroids in a flat belonging to Terence Murrell, an online dealer who was buying from Renvex. Documents at the home led police to find a payment to a dog grooming business that Andrew and Macauley had set up in Ruthin to launder the money. North Wales Police closed in on the father and son's operation. They were arrested in a dawn raid and police finally uncovered the lab at the centre of it all. Andrew said it "felt like a relief at the time", fed up of "deceiving" those around him. Both Andrew and Macauley were sentenced to spend five years in prison in 2018. Despite their court-room bust up, they spent their time in prison together, which Macauley said "saved" their relationship. Including testimony from steroid users, experts and those affected by the culture, Confessions of a Steroid Gang shows how image-obsessed social media, testosterone supplements and a booming black market collided and highlights the health risks of unregulated steroid use and addiction. Speaking on his involvement in the series, Garin Williams, who played Macauley said it was the "biggest project" he'd been involved in so far. "As an actor, you want to show as much emotion as possible on screen and with this story about Macauley's life I had a great opportunity to do so."
Wales Online
4 hours ago
- Wales Online
The real life Welsh story behind new BBC drama Confessions of a Steroid Gang
The real life Welsh story behind new BBC drama Confessions of a Steroid Gang The series tells the story of father and son Andrew and Macaulay Dodd who ran a million-pound steroid empire from the remote Welsh countryside A new series tells the story of Macaulay and Andrew Dodd who started one of the UK's biggest steroid empires from a farmhouse in North Wales (Image: BBC/Double Act Productions) A new BBC series has revealed how a steroid empire based in Wales was dismantled, partly through a dodgy dog grooming shop set up to launder the money being made. Confessions of a Steroid Gang tells the real life story of Macaulay Dodd and his father Andrew who were jailed after their £1m steroid lab in North Wales was uncovered. The three-part series reveals how Macaulay, portrayed by Rhondda-based actor Garin Williams, first became addicted to steroids at 15 in the pursuit to achieve the perfect body before he would go on to cook up £1.2m worth of the Class C drug. Although anabolic steroids are a Class C drug, there is an exemption for personal use. For the latest TV and showbiz news sign up to our newsletter Struggling with his relationship with his dad following his parents divorce, Macaulay latched onto his older, gym-going brother and his circle of older friends. His trips to the gym soon turned into something darker when he began injecting steroids at 15, becoming addicted to build the perfect body. His dad, Andrew Dodd, was also struggling. A former Dee estuary fisherman, he was desperate to change his circumstances when he had a chance encounter with a man in the pub who introduced him to the world of steroids. Hearing that 1.5 million people in the UK were using the drug, he decided to get involved. The pair reconnected when Macauley was 18 and living out his car in Deeside before they moved to St Asaph, where they set up their steroid lab in a remote farmhouse. Article continues below It started as a small scheme in a garden shed but quickly evolved into one of the UK's biggest underground steroid labs, Renvex. The pair were importing the raw ingredients, mainly synthetic testosterone, from China, and formed a network of members of the public who would accept parcels for them without asking questions. Rhondda-born actor Garin Williams plays Macaulay in Confessions of a Steroid Gang (Image: BBC) Speaking on the show, Andrew said: "I didn't really class myself as a criminal. I'd just seen myself as a business owner." A police operation in London eventually led to the discovery of a large quantity of steroids in a flat belonging to Terence Murrell, an online dealer who was buying from Renvex. Documents at the home led police to find a payment to a dog grooming business that Andrew and Macauley had set up in Ruthin to launder the money. North Wales Police closed in on the father and son's operation. They were arrested in a dawn raid and police finally uncovered the lab at the centre of it all. Andrew said it "felt like a relief at the time", fed up of "deceiving" those around him. Both Andrew and Macauley were sentenced to spend five years in prison in 2018. Despite their court-room bust up, they spent their time in prison together, which Macauley said "saved" their relationship. Including testimony from steroid users, experts and those affected by the culture, Confessions of a Steroid Gang shows how image-obsessed social media, testosterone supplements and a booming black market collided and highlights the health risks of unregulated steroid use and addiction. Speaking on his involvement in the series, Garin Williams, who played Macauley said it was the "biggest project" he'd been involved in so far. "As an actor, you want to show as much emotion as possible on screen and with this story about Macauley's life I had a great opportunity to do so." Article continues below All three episodes of Confessions of a Steroid Gang are available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
